What opera is lascia ch'io pianga from

Soprano aria by composer George Frideric Handel

"Lascia ch'io pianga" (Italian:[ˈlaʃʃaˈkiːoˈpjaŋɡa]; English: "Let Me Weep"), originally "Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa" (Italian:[ˈlaʃʃalaˈspiːnaˈkɔʎʎilaˈrɔːza]; English: "Leave the Thorn, Take the Rose"), is an Italian-language sopranoaria by composer George Frideric Handel that has become a popular concert piece.

History

Its melody is first found in act 3 of Handel's 1705 opera Almira as a sarabande; the score for this can be seen on page 81 of Vol. 55^[2] of Friedrich Chrysander. Handel then used the tune for the aria "Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa", or "Leave the Thorn, Take the Rose", for the character Piacere in part 2 of his 1707 oratorioIl trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (which was much later, in 1737, revised as Il trionfo del Tempo e della Ve